Strikes Again!

Entries tagged with kindle

Alas, I broke my Kindle a few days ago. It slid off my desk a couple of times and I guess one of those times was one too many and hit in just the right spot. Of course, my warranty finished up back in April, so that was that. I figured it wouldn't hurt to call Amazon just in case, though, because of the way they bend over backwards to take care of Kindle owners. Sure enough, it was out of warranty, but if you call in cases like this, they'll give you a discount on a new one. So I got $15 off, which almost pays for my new two year warranty. Since between me and the kids I've managed to have two broken in 27 months, the warranty is extremely worth it, even with as cheap as the new Kindles are.

I was very sad at first, because I've very much enjoyed my 2nd gen. I've played around on my mom's 3rd gen, and while the display was better, I liked the overall design of mine better. I've also not been impressed with the reading app on my Fire (seem to be oversensitive when I don't want to change pages but undersensitive when I do), so I decided against getting a Kindle Touch. I considered getting another one with a keyboard, because hunting and pecking with the joystick does not appeal to me at all, but as I thought about it, it's not like I type into it /that/ often. Book titles are the most common thing and if it annoys me that much, I can do it on my computer or Fire. I decided it wasn't worth paying three times as much just to get a keyboard, and I never listen to audio on my e-reader, so I opted for the plain, simple Kindle.

It got here today and wow. I feel like I entered the market at a good time, when I still got lots of features and whatnot (like not having to pay extra for a wall charger), but wow, these new ones are /awesome/. It's about 2/3rds the size of my 2nd gen and about half the weight. The case I got weighs as much or more than the device itself does. I was hoping that would mean I could stand to keep it in the case all the time and lower the chances of another fall killing it, but alas, at least today I can't. The weight is close to the same as my old Kindle, but because the form factor is different, it's too uncomfortable. We are having thunderstorms that are causing my hands to just hurt a lot, though, so I'll give it another go when I'm in less pain in general. It would be preferable to not have to take it in and out because it's such a snug fit, it's difficult to get out.

In addition to the size, it's wireless only. That's a plus in my book, since our bad cell reception is not limited only to Sprint in our house. I've had trouble accessing the Amazon store through the free 3G on my old Kindle as well. Once I got my network info set up, I was amazed at how much faster things download. Actually, the whole device works much faster, with the page refreshing much faster whether just reading or quickly flipping between lists.

It's supposed to be one of their "sponsored" versions, with ads and the like, which I was not looking forward to. When I requested a non-sponsored one on the phone, though, the guy regretfully told me they didn't have any available for their replacement program. He said the ads weren't that bad, only on the screen saver and the bottom of the home page (not showing up at all when reading), and that most people didn't care, though he admitted Kindle owners from before the sponsored ones did tend to be those who cared. He indicated that there was a way to pay a fee to upgrade out of the sponsored version once I got it, so I went ahead and figured I'd give it a try. I can't speak for what the ads are like, however, because thus far, none are showing up. I'm wondering if I somehow ended up without a sponsored one or if the person who input the actual sale fixed it for me. Either way, I have no complaints so far!

The screen and display are super nice. The screen is the same size, but so much crisper. I'm also thrilled with the weight without the case. Even with the case, I'll now be able to slip it into my purse much easier than before. So, overall, my sadness has abated a great deal. There can definitely be advantages to breaking tech devices!

The kids did something to my Kindle tonight, and now, alas, it has passed into the great electric heaven. Judging by the pattern of lines in the e-ink, my current hypothesis was that the cause was getting smashed by my water bottle in the fall when they knocked both off the shelf rather than the fall itself (as the Kindle has survived falls quite well previously, both with and without the cover). The main point of this post is not the death of the poor thing, however, but Amazon's fantastic customer service.

I had gotten the extended warranty for just such an occasion, so I dug up the paper from it and called the number about 10:00 pm tonight, right after I discovered the malfunction. I didn't actually expect to get an answer, but I did. The nice lady looked me up and said I was still within the original warranty. I said that it broke in a fall, so wasn't that an extended warranty thing? She said I was still in the original warranty and she'd transfer me to Amazon as it was up to them.

The nice Amazon lady asked what happened, confirmed my address, and said I'd get the new Kindle on Tuesday with a return label for the old one. The warranty info talks about a single replacement, but as the Amazon warranty says "normal wear and tear" rather than accidental stuff, I decided to confirm this and asked if my warranty was now void. She told me she didn't think so, but put me on hold to clarify just in case...and the answer is nope. Even though they're giving me a full replacement, my warranty is still in effect until April 16, 2012 if anything else happens. Amazing. Usually you have to pull teeth to get any warranty work done on things and they tend to try to get you with small print, but Amazon seems to be going way above and beyond. I already adored my Kindle. I'm now over the moon about the whole thing.

The only thing that sucks is that I got mine right before the new generation came out...and I don't like some of the features as much and the dimensions are different so I have to get a new case. Le sigh. Far better issues to have to deal with that not having one at all, that's for sure. I'll survive and the lighter weight will be even better on my hands.

The long and short of it is, though, that if you're in the market for an e-reader, get the Kindle. One of my in-laws got a Sony e-reader due to DRM objections and if something were to happen to that, there is no way Sony would treat them the way Amazon just treated me. Obviously Amazon is like this so they can continue to sell more books, but it's not like Sony treats its game customers like this either, so it still speaks well of them.

Assuming it can be used with one hand (how I read paperbacks) and authors aren't getting screwed over for royalties, boy, do I want this. My hands hurt more and more and this could be the perfect solution so I don't have to give up long books or reading marathons.